Back on the bikes after two nights in Nashville, and pleased to be underway again. One downside to staying in the inner city is the inevitable scrum involved on the freeway out of town, but at 70-80 mph (112-130kph) it does not take too long. You know it is time to speed up when an 18 wheeler truck and trailer passes you (sometimes a little too close) at 80mph. We have had a mascot accompany us on each tour, a squirrel we bought many years ago, who added characters to whichever bike we were riding over many thousands of miles. Unfortunately at one of our overnight stops someone stole him, so for the past few days we’ve been both getting over the loss and deciding what to do about a replacement. Having rummaged through gift shops aplenty to no avail, our new talisman , an eagle, found us by chance, and now graces our bike. First coffee stop was another “in the middle of nowhere” country “supermarket” - coffee and various off the shelf non prescription medicines for those with sniffles and various other ailments. Rumour has it that one or two inveterate gamblers may have invested in Tennessee lottery tickets ($80 million from memory). Lovely riding on what was a slightly dreary and overcast day, with everything from 10 lane freeways to narrow country roads, with a magnificent last leg on brand newly sealed roads through the Smoky Mountains. In 20 odd miles I did not notice a single blemish - oh for a surface like that at home! Lunch (it actually started as a “pit stop”) at McDonalds in Harriman, then through to Smokey Mountain Harley Davidson, probably the best stocked dealer we’ve come across on tour - needless to say, plenty spent, but mainly on anything other than T shirts. The old codgers in rocking chairs on the porch outside the dealership saw us roar past and knew that we’d soon be back, and chuckled at our expense when this prediction came to pass. Back to the road up to Gatlinburg - it follows a lovey river that inevitably becomes a torrent with a bit of rain, but not today. Because it is autumn (or “Fall”), the colours cross the spectrum, mostly shades of green with leaves turning yellow or red, with browns thrown in for good measure, all the time adding to the tranquility of the river. Quite magnificent and certainly worth stopping to admire. Like so many other places, The Smokey Mountains featured strongly during the tragedy of the American Civil War, but are probably better known nowadays as the birthplace of Dolly Parton (and now, Dollywood!). Entering Gatlinburg was to experience shades of the commercialism seen in Queenstown, certainly not what I expected, gift shops, anything geared towards the tourists. As usual our accomodation for the night is very satisfactory and an indication of the hard work put in behind the scenes. Comments are closed.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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